GPSetc.com News - Navtech Seminars & GPS Supply's GPS/GNSS Newsletter

ITEM 1) GPSWORLD LAUNCHES CONSUMER WEBSITE

Questex, GPS World Announce New GPS Maniac Website for Consumers

" Site features price comparisons for GPS devices, plus daily news, discussion forums and videos for average consumers and enthusiasts

NEWTON, Mass., April 16, 2007 –Revise date when in final form– Questex Media Group today announced the launch of GPS Maniac (at www.gpsmaniac.com), a new website for consumers and GPS enthusiasts that features price comparisons for GPS devices, plus daily news, discussion forums and videos. GPS Maniac is a sister site to GPS World, the leading media brand serving the business and technology of GPS and related services.

GPS Maniac features price comparisons spanning hundreds of GPS devices from nearly 100 manufacturers. Product categories include popular handheld, automotive, outdoor, portable and marine GPS devices, plus maps, software and accessories.

In addition, GPS Maniac provides daily news of interest to consumers and GPS enthusiasts, including information on new devices and services, new and interesting uses of GPS, and news on booming enthusiast pursuits such as geocaching. The site features discussion forums for new users and buyers, a fast-paced blog called “Get Going,” an informative tutorial. In addition, GPS Maniac videos will span GPS adventuring, entertainment and instruction.

As part of the launch strategy, the GPS Maniac team is pursuing a number of SEO and SEM tactics, one of which includes viral marketing of “What GPS Thinks,” a viral video that has been featured on YouTube, Metacafe, AOL Uncut, Yahoo Video, Google Video, Revver and Bliptv. The early results of the poplularity of this video are more than 20,000 downloads in a week.

“Nearly 3 million portable GPS devices shipped last year, and analysts are projecting that sales will more than double this year,” noted Dana Fisher, Group Publisher of Questex’s U.S. Technology Group. “GPS Maniac will serve the rapidly growing number of consumers who are buying GPS devices for the first time, as well as enthusiasts.”

Contact: Dana Fisher, Group Publisher, Questex Media Technology Publishing Group
714-338-6729
dfisher@questex.com "

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ITEM 2) SEE OUR NEW BOOK "GNSS AIDED NAVIGATION AND TRACKING: INERTIALLY AUGMENTED OR AUTONOMOUS" BY DR. JAMES L. FARRELL

Dr. Farrell has put together - from scratch - complete formulations to convert raw uncorrected data from IMU (gyro and accelerometer increments) plus GNSS (pseudorange and ambiguous carrier phase) to full (position/velocity/attitude) 3-dimensional history. Organized and integrated with common notation, the formulations are followed by Ohio University test results -- state-of-the-art performance from a low-cost IMU with drift ratings orders of magnitude beyond nav quality. More good news: merely by exploiting modern capabilities and insights, the inertial processing is dramatically simpler than conventional methods. So is the data editing, shown to be both (1) effective in flight test and (2) fully equivalent, despite its simplicity, to integrity decisions by rigorous parity criteria. The approach is completely robust, applicable to mixed data from GPS plus other GNSS constellations. Highly intermittent short-term sequential changes in ambiguous carrier phases are fully acceptable.

To round out the presentation, underlying commonality between navigation and tracking dynamics is developed further than usual. A variety of operations (air-to-air, air-to-surface, surface-to-air, etc.) with a variety of tracked objects (aircraft, ships, satellites, missiles, projectiles) and sensing means (GNSS broadcasts, optical, radar - in cooperative and noncooperative modes) are shown with common characteristics -- but also with features strikingly unique to each application. The multitarget methods presented offer an unprecedented degree of situation awareness.

NavtechGPS is the sole distributor of this book which is due to arrive by the end of April. Orders are being accepted now.
For a complete table of contents and to place your order, please visit: http://www.navtechgps.com/supply/books.asp?Line=engineering#2451

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ITEM 3) COME SEE OUR EXHIBIT AT THE ION'S 63RD ANNUAL MEETING IN CAMBRIDGE, MA APRIL 23-25

NavtechGPS will have a display of many of his technical books, including Dr. James L. Farrell's new book as cited in the item above. We will be showing products from Septentrio, NovAtel, Acumen, Antcom, GPS Networking and GPS Source, the Accord Signal Tap, Waypoint Post Processing Software and more.

Go to www.ion.org to sign up for this meeting.

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ITEM 4) TECHNICAL TUTORIALS PRIOR TO ION GNSS 2007

REGISTER NOW FOR NAVTECHGPS' 2007 TUTORIALS!
- EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT DEADLINE AUGUST 24
- MAKE HOTEL RESERVATIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE FOR SPECIAL RATES

Browse our 32 technical tutorials to be held September 24-25 in Fort Worth, Texas prior to the ION GNSS 2007 Conference:
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPStutorials/iongnss2007.asp

Register for tutorials on-line at: http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPStutorials/tutreg.asp
(Register on or before August 24th for an early bird discount!)

Make Your Hotel Reservations Online as soon as possible for special ION rates at:
http://www.ion.org/meetings/gnss2007hotel.cfm

Separate online registration for the ION GNSS 2007 conference will be available soon at:
http://www.ion.org/registration/

** Please note that NavtechGPS and the ION are different organizations.

This is the world's largest GPS meeting, with the largest exhibit. Be there for product announcements, leading edge technical papers

356: "GPS Operation for Engineers and Technical Professionals", taught by
Mr. Keith McDonald and Dr. Chris Hegarty (June 4-8, 2007)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem356.asp

About this course:
- To give a comprehensive introduction to GPS and DGPS technology, system concepts, design, operation, implementation and applications.
- To provide detailed information on the GPS signal, its processing by the receiver, and the techniques by which GPS obtains position, velocity and time.
- To present current information on the status, plans, schedule and capabilities for GPS, as well as for other satellite-based systems with position determination applications.
- To fill in technical information gaps for those working in GPS.

Who should attend:
Excellent for engineering staff who need to be rapidly brought up to speed on GPS, and for those already working in GPS who need exposure to the system as a whole, in order to work more effectively.

111: "GPS Fundamentals",
taught by Mr. Keith McDonald (June 4, 2007)(same as Day 1 of Course 356)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem111.asp

122: "GPS Fundamentals and Enhancements",
taught by Mr. McDonald (June 4-5, 2007)(same as Days 1-2 of Course 356)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem122.asp

217: "Introduction to Differential GPS",
taught by Dr. Chris Hegarty (June 6, 2007)(same as Day 3 of Course 356)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem217.asp

356B: "GPS Operations: DGPS, GPS Signals & Processing", taught by Dr. Chris Hegarty (June 6-8, 2007) (The first day, Wednesday, is the same as 217)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem356.asp#356B

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447: Applied Kalman Filtering (4.5 days)
Dr. Larry Levy (June 4-8, 2007)
http://www.navtechgps.com/seminars/GPScourses/sem447.asp

About this course:
This course is a highly intensive short course on Kalman filtering and Kalman filtering applications. Emphasis in the course is on practical applications, but sufficient supporting theory is provided to give attendees the necessary tools for meaningful research and development work in the field. Considerable time is devoted to modeling, the most difficult aspect of Kalman filtering, in an application setting.

There will be a high level of instructor/attendee interaction, designed to provide hands-on problem solving and solution discussions. The learning experience will also be supplemented by homework assignments to assist attendees in improving their understanding of course concepts.

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ITEM 7) NEWSLETTER LINKS and USEFUL WEBSITES (This is an archival list. Please notify us if your own link changes.)

* Mr. Glen Gibbons, founding editor of "GPS World", launched a new international trade journal, "Inside GNSS" last January. Subscription is FREE and details can be found at http://www.insidegnss.com

* The European Space Agency publishes an EGNOS newsletter that is called EGNOS NEWS, focusing both on EGNOS and on satellite navigation issues: http://ravel.esrin.esa.int/docs/egnos/estb/newsletter.htm

* To view details on "GPS World" magazine, the GPS standard since 1990, go to http://www.gpsworld.com/gpsworld

* For the archives of the Locus Inc. newsletter on LORAN positioning and timing, go to: http://www.locusinc.com/loran_newsletter.html

* For the newsletter published by "Professional Surveyor" Magazine, go to http://www.profsurv.com/newpsm/news.php

* Continuously updated newsletter by the US Coast Guard's Navigation Center "NAVCEN" is at http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/

* Military and Aerospace magazine's newsletter is found at: http://mae.pennnet.com/Search/index.cfm?Section=Archives

* Kalman filter site maintained by Gregory F. Welch, UNC, Chapel Hill, NC is at http://www.cs.unc.edu/~welch/kalman/

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ITEM 8) MEETINGS CALENDAR
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April 23-25, 2007
63rd Annual Meeting
with Bio-Nav and Classified Sessions
Royal Sonesta Hotel
Cambridge, Massachusetts
www.ion.org

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September 25-28, 2007 (NavtechGPS Tutorials: September 24-25)
ION GNSS 2007
Fort Worth Convention Center
Fort Worth, Texas
www.ion.org